'Banished Once A Month' - Nepal's Chaupadi tradition continues on

'Banished Once A Month' - Nepal's Chaupadi tradition continues on

Surja Devi Saud, 20, who practices Chaupadi, sits outside her house in Achham District in western Nepal February 16, 2014. (REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar)

Chaupadi is a tradition observed in parts of Nepal, which cuts women off from the rest of society when they are menstruating. Women who practice traditional chaupadi have to sleep in sheds or outbuildings while they are on their period, often with little protection from the elements. They are not allowed to enter houses or temples, use normal public water sources, take part in festivals or touch others during their menstruation, according to a United Nations field bulletin on the issue. Isolated in sheds that are frequently rickety and unhygienic, there have been cases of women dying while practicing chaupadi from illness, exposure, animal attacks or from fires lit in poorly ventilated spaces. Chaupadi was banned by Nepal's Supreme Court in 2005, but it is still common in the country's far and mid-western regions. (REUTERS)